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Breakthrough drug that delays type 1 diabetes approved in Australia, the first new therapy since insulin
Teplizumab, marketed as Tzield, has been approved for use in Australia to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes by an average of two years. Hailed as the first new therapy for type 1 diabetes since the discovery of insulin over a century ago, the drug targets immune cells that attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
A breakthrough treatment that delays the onset of type 1 diabetes has been approved for use in Australia, marking what researchers describe as the first new therapy for the disease since the discovery of insulin more than a century ago. Teplizumab, marketed as Tzield, works by targeting the immune cells that attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, delaying the onset of type 1 diabetes by an average of two years.
The drug has already been approved for use in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States, and will initially be available for free in Australia on compassionate grounds while researchers work to get it listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The estimated cost per treatment course is approximately 24,000 dollars.
Patients aged eight years and older who have a confirmed diagnosis of stage 2 type 1 diabetes are eligible for treatment with Tzield. The therapy involves receiving an infusion every day for 14 days. One patient, 19-year-old Jess Kovacs, who discovered she had the antibodies for type 1 diabetes after her younger sister was diagnosed, said the treatment was well worth it to push back the disease's progression.
Researchers are calling for a national screening programme so that type 1 diabetes can be detected at an earlier stage, allowing more patients to benefit from the new treatment. The biggest challenge currently is identifying eligible patients, as many people do not know they are at risk until they develop full-blown type 1 diabetes, often presenting in emergency situations.
Type 1 diabetes affects hundreds of thousands of Australians and requires lifelong insulin management. The approval of Tzield represents a paradigm shift in how the disease is approached, moving from management after diagnosis to proactive intervention before full onset. Researchers expressed hope that this breakthrough will encourage more families to get tested, potentially transforming outcomes for generations to come.